Host a 22×20 State of the Union Action Party!

We’re kicking off 2019 with action parties all across the country.

Members of the 22×20 campaign fellowship and network will host parties to support teen voices on the future of the country and important issues facing their communities.

The 22×20 campaign launched in 2018 with several action parties across the country. These occurred before, during and after the State of the Union (SOTU). You can join us in 2019!

Sign Up to Host an Action Party!

Each State of the Union is a moment of democratic visioning. It’s time for more youth voices to be heard as part of that conversation.

Anyone can organize an action party! We’re working with teen leaders, educators and media across the country.

Throughout January 2019 and early February 2019, you can join us by hosting your own State of the Union Action party. Fill out this form to get started.

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What is a 22×20 SOTU Action Party?

The 22×20 State of the Union Action Parties are about teen voices speaking out about democracy and issues that face our nation and communities.

Young people need to hear from other youth—the experience contributes to building a culture that promotes and sustains engagement. 22×20 action parties are about this political expression, often combined with civic media creation.

Before

Parties held before the SOTU could include youth civic media creation and social media campaigns about how youth see the state of their communities and democracy. They might involve issue priorities and directing thoughts at President Trump about how he could address those issue or how media can analyze his State of the Union speech.

A sample prompt could be: “What would YOU say if you were asked to report on the state of our union?”

Example: In 2018, The LAMP hosted an action party at SONY where teens from all over NYC created and shared civic media on the spot. It is a great template for a civic media-maker action party.

During

If you want to hold an action party on the night of the 2019 SOTU, you might focus on youth voices on the state of the nation and communities, analyze President Trump’s speech, or evaluate media coverage of the speech.

Action parties can use existing tools (see below) like EngagementLab’s Suite, Archive.org’s Popcorn or The LAMP’s MediaBreaker to enable youth to create media, such as memes and remix/jams of SOTU coverage or the speech itself.

Example: In 2018, our network partner KQED held a watch party and discussion, which you can read about here. Check out this post about an action party hosted during the SOTU last year where high schoolers got to learn about local groups at a campaign fair.

After

Using such tools as those from Hypothesis (see below), young people throughout the country can come together and collaborate on a fact-checked, annotated version of the State of the Union Address. They can also continue to meme, remix, and jam the address, the Democratic response and media coverage.

Be sure to share on social media using the hashtag #22×20!

Example: At the NYC action party in 2018, one of the media creation stations was a way to annotate the SOTU address. Check out some of the responses here.

Additional Resources & Sample Classroom Materials

Break-a-thon SOTU Edition Curriculum Package: To be used in class, while hosting an action party, or as a followup to an action party. The Break-a-Thon in a Box playbook, a tool from The LAMP, has been updated for the SOTU so that it is a package in and of itself for enabling youth media creation.